The Gospel according to the Octonauts

If you have pre-school children that watch cbeebies then its likely that you have heard them singing along to the Octonauts theme tune. My kids love the show and I must admit, it’s my favourite children’s programme around at the moment. Its mixture of likeable characters, interesting marine animals needing rescuing and catchy theme tune have made it a hit in our household.

Yesterday I was leading the service in my church, for the children’s talk I showed a picture of the characters and asked the kids what programme it was, what the characters’ names were and what their mission was. If you watch the show you will know that their mission is to EXPLORE, RESCUE, PROTECT the marine animals and underwater environment. This is how Captain Barnacles describes it: “to explore new underwater worlds, rescue amazing sea creatures and protect the ocean“.

I pointed out to the kids that God loves people very much and like the Octonauts, has a mission to Explore, Rescue and Protect people:

Explore: “Go into all the world” Matthew 28.18

Jesus came to earth as part of God’s mission to mankind and now he wants to use us, as we grow up, in this global mission to the whole world. I reminded them that there are people from this church and others all over the world carrying out God’s mission of exploring every part of the earth for him.

Rescue: “I have come to seek and save the lost” Luke 19.10

Jesus came to rescue people who had got into trouble. He came to help those in need, those who have made bad choices or been the victim of circumstances – he now wants us to also rescue people from a dark world.

Protect: “He who comes to me I never cast out” John 6.37

Jesus promised that whoever came to him he would never reject. He will always protect and accept anyone who comes to him, now it is our job to do the same – welcoming people into the family of God and protecting each other.

So remember, kids (I said to them!), the next time that you hear the Octonauts’ theme tune and the “explore, rescue, protect”, that God also has a mission for us to do and he is looking for little Octonauts to explore, rescue and protect people.

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6 thoughts on “The Gospel according to the Octonauts”

I probably am unpopular for saying this, but Octonauts send shivers down my spine, along with various other current and popular children’s programmes with themes, portrayed as friendly ie magic (opposite of faith), dragons (the Evil one) – present in virtually every children’s programme last week, skulls (death). Octonauts – plays on ‘octopus’ which as a symbol, plays on ‘mind control’, the octopus symbol on their hats clearly plays on a skull and add in popular theme and catchy theme, and hence, everybody, including parents are hooked: NO, every body is not on the highway to hell, BUT:: for those vulnerable ones (ie children, with vivid imaginations), a door may be opened to evil themes as friendly, yielding no harm – hence so much more difficult to later have discernment between good and evil, as evil things are portrayed as ‘good’…..
No, I cannot share your enthusiasm for gospel according to octonauts…. I choose to switch off the TV when this show and others come up, and am very grateful that my delightful and clever children can still choose between various educational shows, and mostly just play and employ their own imagination to create their own entertainment.
In the last hours, even the elect will become deceived….

Paranoid much, Sonja? You may need to seek professional help if you are not already under the care of a mental health team. I am not being facetious, I am offering some genuine and heartfelt advice as I am concerned. To see evil and death in so many benign places, to read deception and mind control into benign children’s programmes………

Hey Carol, thank you for your apparent (?) concern. I will ignore your demeaning tone. The world I live in is not ‘ruled’ by Christians, many are outspoken atheists, and many many many believe in live by ‘the very good nature of their good will’ – and don’t believe in sin…. I am a sinner Carol, I am so grateful for the grace and mercy of my Father and Jesus Christ. If you believe the same as I do Carol, I feel blessed as I believe I have another sister in Christ. If you see ‘no harm’ in things such as those I have mentioned, and you are at peace with it, then that is none of my concern.
I on the other hand am concerned about many things in the world around me, and as i said, my views are not popular. Thank you any way for allowing me to give my opinion. May you and your family have a truly blessed day. Sincerely Sonja

Martyn, I’m on holiday just now, returning on Saturday, preaching on Sunday and just realised I also need to do a Kids talk. I had remembered this one and am cheerfully “borrowing” it – I’ll tell the Abbeyhillites that it’s yours though! Even more useful is that one of the verses is repeated in the sermon – Love these conicidences!